Teen’s holiday death teaches valuable lesson

Every year thousands of families and groups of friends are left one fewer due to a death on the road. Losing a loved one in a crash, however it happens, is a sudden and shocking pain to anyone. Tragically, so many of these deaths could have been avoided, preventing endless heartache for everyone involved.

This week we’ve published the story of Jack Howe.

Killed after losing control of his quad bike in Zante, the Kings Hill teenager’s family say he and his mates were told not to wear a helmet “as it would make them sweat resulting in poor vision”. A post mortem found he died of fatal chest and abdominal injuries.

Jack was 19 and on his first lads’ holiday.

Whatever help the helmet may or not have had, his death is a tragic reminder of the dangers of the road.

That’s any road, foreign or at home.

The Howe family say Jack and his friend were allowed to hire two quad bikes with one licence. The dangers of our own roads seem clear enough to anyone with decent experience.

But to the untested, on a foreign road aboard something as appealing as a quad bike, there are all the makings of a tragedy. In that case, surely the people providing these vehicles should be taking every precaution. In places like Zante, young people are looking for a good time, the cheaper the better.

To an extent, tourists’ lives are in the hands of the places they visit.

Just as clubs and pubs have their own rules to obey out in these resorts, other businesses do too.

There has to be greater awareness of safety procedures, and stricter punishments for companies who flout them.